🎥 Van Gils fined for "inappropriate behavior" during sprint, Lotto-Dstny angry: "You need to watch where you're going!"

The thirteenth stage of the Tour de France on Friday was once again marred by a nasty crash. In the final kilometer, things went completely wrong on the left side of the road, with Amaury Capiot, who was leading out, being completely taken down from behind by Maxim Van Gils. This caused a significant pile-up, with Cees Bol among the victims.

The thirteenth stage had been quite beautiful for a long time, despite some big names like Primoz Roglic (crash on Thursday), Juan Ayuso (COVID-19, withdrew) and Jésus Herrada already dropping out. After a tough bout of echelon riding, the finale came down to a sprint in the streets of Pau, and with a reduced peloton, it seemed that there would be no problems.

But there were. When Capiot finished his work for his leader Arnaud Démare, the Belgian dropped back. However, another Lotto-Dstny rider wanted to pass along the barriers, but he didn't fit anymore. Van Gils knocked over his compatriot, causing Bol and others to crash hard over them. Arnaud De Lie, for whom Van Gils was working, had to brake hard to avoid crashing.

"I suddenly saw ten riders flying out of nowhere," said Michael Matthews, who witnessed the incident from the wheel of the Lotto-Dstny sprint train. "It happened a few guys ahead of me, and I was able to slip through. I got hit from behind but managed to stay on my bike." Capiot wasn't as fortunate, finishing heavily battered. Bol's shirt was ripped open, but according to his team, Astana, he escaped without major injuries.

Continue reading below the video.

Lotto-Dstny responds through Van Gils, De Lie and De Wouwer

Van Gils, team leader Kurt De Wouwer and De Lie all responded to the incident on Sporza. Although Van Gils' shoulder push seemed strong, he himself thought it wasn't too bad. "Capiot dropped back and looked behind him. He hit me or I hit him, and they fell behind me. That's unfortunate. If Arnaud stays upright there and we take that last corner well, he has a chance to win. There was definitely a gap of half a meter. I'm not a sprinter, so yeah." De Wouwer agreed: "In my opinion, he did nothing wrong, one hundred percent."

"It's always the same: someone looks back, and then there's chaos," De Lie reacted sharply. "You need to watch where you're going, not behind you. Because then you get a big crash. I hope everyone is okay, but I could have been out of the Tour, you know. I didn't fall, but just barely. I'm already happy about that. But if you don't look back, it's not dangerous. The UCI needs to look at this. We need to study how many riders look back using the helicopter footage. Without rules, it will stay like this. And then every post-race interview will be about crashes."

The UCI held Van Gils responsible for the crash after the race. The young Belgian was fined 1,500 Swiss francs and deducted 60 UCI points. "Inappropriate behavior," the jury report stated. "A shoulder bump that endangered other riders."